Weather Update

The power and the water continues to flow here at Casa Tipple and Home Eatery Library located in NE Dallas. We have been very lucky to have everything stay on and we both are very glad for that. This has been an incredibly stressful event and this old house has made a lot of noises I have not heard since coming back here in the summer of 2017. I have not been sleeping much, not that I do anymore since Sandi passed, but it was been way worse than normal. The noises do not help. More than once each night I have been up with a flashlight checking to make sure we were not leaking water from somewhere after seeing another round of horror stories on the news. Like Covid news when that started, it is easy to watch too much coverage and do a real mental number on yourself. At least, it is that way for me. 

While my front porch is in the shade and still icy and slick as it is shade and faces north, the back porch onto the deck melted almost completely with much of it dry by midafternoon. That meant I could get outside with my cane and carefully wander around the house and eyeball things. We seem to have dodged the roof damage some of the neighbors clearly have on top of dealing with burst pipes. 

At this point, it looks like the only casualty is the old car battery in Sandi's car. I will deal with that later as folks with far more urgent issues are flooding the stores and car repair places. 

The great melting started today as we soared to 60 here at the house Far cry from this and this as the pictures from the front porch taken midafternoon show below. 

There is talk that we may hit 70 on Tuesday and Wednesday. If true, I will be outside reading out there  both days. 

Weather Update

We have kept power and water on and have no idea how we have been so lucky. Millions of Texans, including neighbors on the street, have not been so fortunate. An additional couple of inches of sleet and snow rolled through last night into early this morning. The pictures below are of my street this morning looking left and then right from my front porch.

Texas Snow

Good afternoon from NE Dallas where it is nine degrees and a wind chill of minus 15. So far, we have had power. But, there are massive regional outages as well as localized deals due to widespread system failures.  

The first two pictures are my street looking left and then right as seen from the front porch. 

This is the calm before the next storm starting tomorrow night that is supposed to be more of an ice event. Clearly, I will not be sitting on the deck anytime soon.

Received by Email: Important message from City of Dallas

Important message from City of Dallas:

Storm Debris Collection - Service Alert

Code Compliance will suspend the issuance of brush/bulky trash citations for storm debris set outs.

Sanitation Services will continue June brush/bulk service as scheduled.  Service will be delayed due to the volume of storm debris.

Normal Brush and Bulk Service will be suspended in July so crews can focus on storm debris collection. Only storm debris will collected in July.

Cost-plus service is suspended until further notice.

Please be patient as collections will be delayed.

Resident can haul to transfer stations or McCommas Bluff Landfill during designated days.  See www.dallaszerowaste.com for transfer station and landfill operating hours, restrictions, and days available to residents.

Addinionally,  DALLAS 311 on twitter reports that 41 percent of the traffic signals across the city are not working and that FLASHING RED in all directions means the intersection is a 4 way stop.

From the DPL HOMEPAGE:

The following branch locations do not have power at this time:
Bachman Lake, Lakewood, Lochwood, Oak Lawn, Park Forest, Paul Laurence Dunbar Lancaster-Kiest, Preston Royal, Skillman Southwestern, Skyline, White Rock Hills.

ERCOT NEWS RELEASE-- Rotating outages in Rio Grande Valley---UPDATED

Rotating outages in Rio Grande Valley

Consumers urged to conserve to reduce necessity for outages

5:05 pm,  Oct. 8, 2014 – The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has instructed Valley-area transmission and distribution service providers to reduce demand on the electric system immediately due to voltage concerns on the transmission system in that area.

This situation is limited to the Rio Grande Valley area and does not affect other areas of the electric grid serving most of Texas.

Rotating outages are controlled, temporary interruptions of electrical service initiated by each utility.  Without this safety valve, generators would overload and begin shutting down to avoid damage, risking a domino effect of a region-wide outage.

Rotating outages primarily affect residential neighborhoods and small businesses and do not typically include critical-need customers.

The outages are typically limited to 15-45 minutes before being rotated to a different neighborhood.  Some customers may experience longer outages if power surges cause equipment failure during the restoration process.  Customers can minimize the risk of power surges by turning off appliances, lights and other equipment, except for one task light to determine when power has been restored.

ERCOT is asking consumers in the Rio Grande Valley area to reduce energy consumption:

• Turn up thermostat a couple of degrees if possible.
• Turn off and unplug non-essential lights and appliances.
• Avoid running large appliances such as washers, dryers, and electric ovens during peak energy demand hours.
• Close shades and blinds at night to reduce the amount of heat lost through windows.
• Businesses should minimize the use of electric lighting and electricity-consuming equipment as much as possible.
• Large consumers of electricity should consider shutting down or reducing non-essential production processes.

Rotating outages will continue until voltage is stabilized. 

See more conservation tips at www.ercot.com/about/conservation/index.html.

 
***********  RECEIVED AT 7:55 PM*********

ERCOT discontinues rotating outages in Rio Grande Valley

7 p.m., Oct. 8, 2014 – The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) at 6:29 p.m. instructed transmission and distribution service providers to restore electric service following rotating outages in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. While most affected consumers will be returned to service immediately, some providers indicate it could take about an hour to restore service to all affected consumers.

Earlier this evening, unplanned power plant outages resulted in electric transmission issues in the Valley, which required action by the grid operator to protect the system in that area.

At 4:47 p.m., ERCOT instructed the transmission and distribution providers to reduce system demand by 200 MW to protect the Valley region from the risk of an uncontrolled blackout situation. Additional power also was imported from the power grid in Mexico to help address transmission system issues in the area, and ERCOT is working with the affected generation owners to return their units to service.

“We appreciate the patience and help from Valley residents during this situation,” said Ken McIntyre, ERCOT vice president, Grid Planning and Operations. “We have been working with transmission providers on projects to improve future electric reliability in the Valley region.”

A Year Later

And no sign of this or worse.........

or this........

and I don't want it either. Local media is saying some folks are complaining about the lack of winter precipitation and posting comments on the station's various social media platforms.

I have no desire at all to repeat last winter. Not one bit. I would be absolutely ecstatic with not a single snow or ice even this winter.


Kevin